Shadow Chaser Chapter One

The shadows lengthened as the sun began to sink behind the ruins of the old priory. Gerhard watched the time weathered stonework, slowly transformed into colorless curtains before his eyes. This had been his place to seek peace and seclusion since his early teens. The place where he could sit alone and sift through the troublesome thoughts, that plagued his daily existence. It was his haven, his salvation and a place he felt at perfect ease.

As dusk descended it seemed to bring with it the usual air of tranquility, that would wash away the hassle and frustration which had accumulated throughout the long and hectic hours of his working day. Only the almost inaudible sound of an occasional bat, stealthily, swooping past, marred the silence.

"Gerhard’s mind began to play back clear images, of how he imagined the priory had been, when groups of twelfth century monks flittered among the magnificent buildings and bustling grounds. Hurrying in and out of the infirmary. Tending the brothers, and locals from the surrounding settlements that had established around the outside of the priory walls.

Other monks rushed back and forth from small boats tethered by the rivers edge. Some bringing in supplies and some shipping out produce that the monk’s had grown or made to raise essential revenue for the orders up-keep.

All these images flooded freely and well rehearsed before him. As indeed they should. Gerhard had practiced this ritual of self-imposed seclusion, daily, ever since his job in nearby Sheffield took him past the priory gates. There were times when he doubted whether he could survive without his practically daily visits to the ruins and draining the stressful burden of busy office life from his aching head, before continuing the few remaining miles home, feeling refreshed and energized.

As dusk fell to darkness, so too did the temperature fall to an uncomfortable level, alerting Gerhard that he had stayed long enough, too long in fact. The entire area was now in total darkness and he still had to complete his journey home. Only his intrinsic knowledge of the layout of the area would allow him safe passage back to the car park. He strode with confident strides amidst the towering stonework and those that had long since been reduced to moss-covered stumps, that hardly broke through the surface.

Gerhard became aware of a strange feeling, as if someone were following him, silently tracing his steps and seeking concealment among the ancient pillars and buttresses. Several glances over his shoulder, only convinced Gerhard that his imagination was running amuck. Yet, strangely, the air of uneasiness persisted. This was not like him, a fact that bothered him greatly.

"Hello!" he reluctantly called out. "Whose there?"
Only the hum of traffic on the nearby main road broke the eerie solitude.
After standing for a brief moment, to listen for tell-tale footsteps behind him, Gerhard concluded that all was well and paced briskly towards the dim, welcoming lights, which illuminated the parking area and main entrance.
When more than a few meters lay between himself and his newly acquired Ford Mondeo, an icy blast of wind stopped him dead in his tracks. The sudden blast had been strong enough to cause him to gasp for air, and a foul musty odor assaulted his senses.

Instantly, Gerhard was uncharacteristically ravaged by a sudden and intense panic, making him quicken his pace to almost running. His heart pounded frantically within his chest and his breathing became more and more labored. He continued a punishing pace for several agonizing yards and finally reached the car park. With a shaking hand, Gerhard clumsily aimed the remote locking key in the Mondeo’s direction. Thankfully, the indicators flashed and the satisfying electronic beep announced that the maneuver had been successful.

Once the door slammed shut behind him, he fumbled nervously with the keys, as they jangled in his tentative grip before falling into the foot-well beneath his feet.
"Oh, shit!" He cursed loudly, bending forward to retrieve them. His fingers probed and prodded in vain. The keys had lodged beneath the brake pedal.
"Oh for God’s sake, where are they?" he cursed again in angry frustration.
At this point, his already pounding heart almost burst. A numbing wave of panic ravaged his entire body with intense savagery.
The drivers door suddenly opened, making Gerhard writhe frantically in his seat, not knowing whether to scramble for the passenger door and flea for his life or summon up the courage to confront what had suddenly opened the door.

Before he could muster the logic to decide, a heavy hand gripped his shoulder.
"Arghhhhhh! For God’s sake!" he screamed in horror.
"Geez, mate, calm down," came the startled reply from the security guard, who had seen Gerhard sprinting through the car park, and took it upon himself to investigate.
"Gerhard slumped back in his seat, inhaling a gratifying lung full of air to restore his calmness and reduce his pounding heart rate to a bearable level.
"Are you alright, mate?" asked the concerned security guard. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost!"
"Yeah! I will be in a minute."
After a few calming minutes the two men began to see the funny side of Gerhard’s plight.
"I would have cleared you off the site earlier," the guard began to explain. "But, I recognized your car. I see you here most nights. So I knew you weren’t up to any mischief."
"I call here on my way home from work. But I’ve never felt anything like this before." Gerhard replied, his voice tinged with embarrassment.

"So, what did you see?"
"I didn’t see anything, that’s what spooked me so much." Gerhard slowly stepped out of the car and lit a cigarette, with still trembling hands. "Do you smoke?" he asked the guard, holding out the packet in a polite gesture for him to take one.
The two of them leaned against the car and chatted. The guard introduced himself as Pete. Gerhard responded in kind.
As time slipped by, largely unnoticed, Pete informed Gerhard of the archaeological excavation that had begun on the site during the preceding week, but had already been forced to stop, because the dig was weakening the already fragile stonework.
"I’m surprised you haven’t read about it in the local press. It’s even been featured on news bulletins on the telly," Pete exclaimed.
"No. I saw the cloisters had been sectioned off, but, I assumed it had been done while they secured some of the loose masonry."
Stubbing out the cigarette he had just flicked to the floor, Pete went into detail, describing how the archaeologists had stumbled across a grave that remained hidden for many centuries.
"It must be someone high up," he explained, "apparently only the big wigs earn the privilege of being buried with the main complex. Though every one seems baffled why they found this grave directly underneath on of the main walls."
"Maybe he was one of the Abbots," Gerhard suggested.
"Don’t know who he was," Pete grinned, "but if they built a stone a wall on top of the poor sod, they didn’t intend on him getting out" Pete grinned, as if trying to make light of the situation.

Even though the heavily built security guard appeared at first glance, not to be the kind of man to be affected by local superstition or old wives tales, Gerhard noticed a hint of uneasiness creeping into Pete voice, when he went on to disclose some of the strange events that had unfolded since the excavation had begun.
"So, have you seen or heard anything?" Gerhard asked, hoping his question might prompt the big man to admit that he too had fallen victim to some kind of weird experience in the area.
"To be honest, something weird did happen last night. I was going round the site on my hourly patrol. It was about 2am when……"
"Yes, go on!" Gerhard prompted impatiently.
"Now! It was just me imagination," Pete mumbled. "It gets you like that sometimes, this job. Makes you imagine things, You start seeing and hearing things that are not really there."
"See things like what?" Gerhard insisted. He needed the reassurance that someone had seen or heard something, and it wasn’t just him.

After coughing nervously, to clear his throat, Pete began his explanation, then immediately stopped to light another cigarette, savoring the first couple of long appreciative drags.
"Come on Pete, tell me, what did you see?"
"Well, like I said, it was about two o’clock this morning. At first I thought it was a young couple. You know…stopped of on their way home from the night clubs in town." The big man’s face twisted in a wide grin. "They do that, you know. The randy young sods spend their taxi fares, then walk home, and stop off here to have their end away."
It was becoming obvious that whatever Pete did witness in the early hours that morning, he was finding it very uncomfortable to talk about it.
Gerhard knew only too well how his own weird experience had scared him and could appreciate that he would not relish the daunting task of spending the night alone in such a place.
"Well, I really should be getting home," he announced, allowing the security some reprieve from reliving whatever had unnerved him.
"And I better do my rounds," Pete grinned, though his transparent smile did little to convince Gerhard that the big was far from happy with his situation.
After wishing each other goodnight, the two men parted company. Gerhard steered the Mondeo towards the gates. Glancing back in his rear view mirror, he could see the bulky shape of Pete, slowly walking back in the direction of the ruins. "Poor sod!" he mumbled, pulling out onto the main road to finish the leg of his journey home.